New Beginnings
by quail58
Summary: Rin's forced into a divorce after her husband commits adultery, and now she has to pick up the pieces of her life and learn to love again.
1. Divorce

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Inuyasha.

--

The snow drifted slowly to the ground, but it went unnoticed by the party-goers. Today was New Years Eve, a time to celebrate the past year and the new year to come. Everyone there is happy except for one, the only one to notice the snow outside. She presses her head up against the pane of glass and lets out a long sigh. This year had been hard on her, and at midnight tonight Rin would start her life as a single woman. No, she was even worse than a single woman, she was to be a divorced woman. The stigma behind such a word was enough to drive off the best of people who failed to even comprehend that she was not at fault in her divorce.

She could remember the day her life fell apart perfectly.

It was early December, and Rin and her older sister Kagome had decided to go out Christmas shopping while Inuyasha was home to watch his child. They had agreed to go over to Sango's house afterward to wrap the gifts while Sango was away so that they wouldn't have to worry about Sakura trying to steal a peek at her gifts. When they got there they found Miroku at home with the children but Sango was not there. "She went to her father's house to look for some gifts she bought our children back in October," Miroku explained.

He invited them into the house, and they went into the study to start their projects assuming that Sango would be joining them soon. When she did get, Sango seemed to be greatly troubled about something. "What's wrong? Is your father okay?" Kagome asked concerned.

Sango sat down slowly with a camera in her hands, which were trembling. She wouldn't even look at Rin, which made Rin's stomach acid churn. Finally she handed the digital camera to Kagome, who glanced through the pictures with Rin and Miroku looking over her shoulders. What Sango had captured on camera was a couple in the middle of a sexual act. Miroku grinned like the pervert he was, but it was the pictures at the end that explained why it was that Sango had taken the photos in the first place. It looked as if the couple had heard Sango and you could see the faces of both of them with their eyes open wide like a deer caught in the headlights.

Rin's knees gave way, but thankfully Miroku caught her before she could faint. Kagome's face was captured in extreme concern, and Sango now was crying as she chanted over and over, "I can't believe he did it to you." For indeed the male in the photos was none other than her brother Kohaku, who just so happened to be Rin's husband.

Miroku comforted his wife while Kagome tried to give Rin some encouraging words, but Rin could not comprehend what Kagome was telling her. Instead, in Rin's mind the world seemed to slow down entirely. It was like she was dreaming, and that's what she prayed was happening.

Unfortunately for her it was not a dream. Kohaku really had committed adultery, and the worst part was that he was not sorry for it. Sango and Kagome both dragged Rin to a lawyer immediately to get the paperwork started. Because it was caught on film, Rin got most of their possessions since adultery is illegal in the state of Illinois. And the lawyer had somehow even convinced her to start a civil suit against Kohaku's mistress, thanks to the Alienation of Affection law. Whenever that finished she would likely gets thousands of dollars from his mistress, but that mattered not to Rin.

Instead she just wanted it all to go away. She remained in the grieving process for the first three weeks, but within the last few days she had gone into the angry phase, and everything that reminded her of Kohaku angered her. Everything except for Sango and Sango's father, who both did their best to help her because they were both angry with Kohaku.

So now she was sitting in her sister's house listening to everyone be happy. Tomorrow would be a new beginning for her, one that was sure to leave her lonely and bitter for a long time to come. And as the countdown to the new year reached zero a tear slipped from each of her eyes.

--

Note: So I promised CelestialDragon423 that I'd consider making a New Year's story, and here's the start of it.

As for divorce, I do know both of the laws mentioned above are real laws in Illinois, something that I came across while doing research for my own divorce. The only thing is that you have to physical evidence, which I unfortunately was unable to get.


	2. Recovering

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Inuyasha, nor do I own Robert Allerton Park, which is maintained by the University of Illinois, which my tax money goes towards financing.

--

By September Rin still wasn't much better. She spent nearly 7 months being entirely angry at Kohaku, but something then changed inside of her. She would never admit it, but in her attempt to forgive Kohaku she instead turned the anger in on herself. Kagome couldn't figure which phase was better for Rin, and Inuyasha wasn't making things any easier with his untactful approaches to making her feel better. It didn't help that Sango tended to pretend everything was okay, but then again it was her brother who was also involved. In fact, Rin was happy Sango still talked to her since most often the former in-laws would separate themselves from the one who no longer belonged to the family.

It had been Kagome's suggestion that Rin get out and go somewhere that she had treasured with Kohaku to help clear her mind. What Kagome hadn't counted on was for Rin to decide to go to Robert Allerton Park and go hiking alone, even if it was on a Tuesday in the middle of the day. But Rin was determined to get alone from everyone and do something she couldn't do when Kohaku was there. Kohaku hadn't been much of a hiker, so they always drove out to the statue of the Death of the Last Centaur and the statue of the Sun Singer. Today she was determined to hike the 1 mile to the Death of the Last Centaur and then the 1 mile to the Sun Singer before hiking the full 2 miles back.

Only a half a mile out the thought occurred to her that when she got back Kagome, Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, and all her employees would probably lecture her for being out here alone when there was a possibility that she would run into sexual molesters. Not 2 minutes after that thought she heard the deep voice of a man ask her, "How are you today?" Startled Rin let out a loud shriek that seemed to echo in the forest. When she turned around she saw a rather good looking man with dark hair, tan skin, and well toned muscles walking there 10 feet behind her. "I didn't mean to scare you," he apologized looking sincere.

"I wasn't expecting anyone to be out here," she admitted. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she dreaded what this man could be doing out here. He was wearing only a pair of jogging shorts, and his well built chest showed his muscles that could clearly overpower her despite her self-dense training.

"I apologize," he said nicely as he now passed her up. She noticed that his pace slowed down so that he was walking right in front. "I was out jogging and thought I might come out here to see the Sun Singer."

"There's where I'm heading," she admitted slowly following behind him but wondering if she shouldn't drop further behind or even just run back to the formal gardens that held more people.

"How far away is it, do you think?"

"I believe 2 miles from the start of the path."

He was silent for a few minutes before saying, "I am from Rhode Island, and I was here visiting my mother who lives only a mile and a half from the park. I was out jogging and thought that I might as well visit the park since I've never been here before. Then I heard about the Sun Singer statue and decided to go out there to see it. I didn't think it was that far away." He didn't say anything more but kept walking, so Rin assumed that meant that he had resolved to go the full 2 miles to get there. She noted that she thought it strange that he would continue to walk right in front of her despite his quicker pace early on, but she also noted that he made no intention of hurting her. What was even more strange was how calm she suddenly felt around him like God would protect her from him if he meant to do her any harm. He broke her out of her reverie when he asked, "Have you been out here before?"

"Yes. About 2 years ago."

"Have you been here this year?"

"No. It's not easy for me to get out here since I live in Springfield."

"Oh, so do you like Barak Obama?" he asked her with a cheery tone.

"I'm seriously thinking about it."

"I'm definitely voting for him. I heard him at the Democratic Convention and thought he had a good speech."

"Yeah. I was happy to hear Durbin talk also. I was able to brag earlier that I had interned for him once."

"Yeah, I thought he was pretty good too."

After a ten minute conversation about politics and the electoral college he told her that politics was his hobby, to which she replied that she had her bachelor's degree in political science. Shortly after they started talking about the statue they were coming up to. When they got there he moved around the statue pondering it from a few angles while Rin snapped a picture of it. Her allergies were starting to get to her a little despite her medicine she had taken earlier, so she sat down to rest, and he decided to walk on from there.

As Rin sat there she remembered the 2 times she had come out here and how Kohaku had stood there snapping pictures of the statue and talking about its beauty. Rin closed her eyes and tried to block out her thoughts of Kohaku, which did abruptly come to an end when she heard the guy down the trail some way as he hit away a few branches. At this point Rin stood up and walked the little ways off onto another path to snap a picture of 4 concrete pillars that are erected on the edge of the path.

Something told her to catch up with the guy, so she ran off towards the path but soon found herself walking through mud. Off the path she could still see puddles of water. Clearly since this portion of the trail was not next to a drop off, when the rains from the previous week came as a result of Hurricane Ike they flooded the path. Then to make matters worse, nearly all the way there she found a set of large trees that had fallen across the path. It was a bit of a struggle, but she managed to make it around them and continue along her journey resolving to walk along the road back to the Death of the Last Centaur before getting back onto the trail again.

And as she was headed up the hill to the Sun Singer that was now in sight she saw the guy coming down the path again. When he was within hearing range she told him, "There's an easier way to get back to at least the less muddy part of the path."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You can take the road leading out of here and then there is a small area where you can park your cars where you can find a short path to the Death of the Last Centaur. From there you can get back onto the trail."

"Thanks," he said turning around and walking in front of her again.

Then uncharacteristically Rin said, "I might walk back with you."

He complied and then talked about the muddy trail and how large the Sun Singer statue was. After that Rin told him about how the previous day was one of the only 2 days of the year where the sun comes up exactly between his hands so that it looks like he is holding the sun. He seemed thoroughly impressed, but Rin was more impressed now with the meadow in front of her instead of the statue. It was quite a sight to behold walking through the forest only to come out into a meadow that the sun shone upon. It almost seemed like the grass itself shone with the sun's radiance.

After snapping a couple of pictures Rin noticed the guy had a puzzle look upon his face, so she gave him a goofy smile before snapping a quick picture of the statue. "Are you ready to go?" she asked after only being there for a couple of minutes.

"Yeah," he answered her following behind her and then getting just in front of her again. They walked along the road talking about how he had come to visit his brothers in the suburbs, to which Rin told him that she had grown up just outside the suburbs. He told her that he had grown up in Decatur, which brought to Rin's mind the smell of soybeans being processed by ADM that she smelled even from the interstate as she drove to Monticello that day. She also found out that he was scientist at a drug company, and he was starting to become a Cubs fan after being a Cardinals fan because this was the first time in a long time the Cubs had a chance to make it to the World Series.

When they got to the Death of the Last Centaur Rin remarked, "I think the statute if quite fascinating being put right here in the middle of no where. It gives you this feeling that he was quite alone when he died." The guy didn't say anything, so Rin laughed aloud before saying, "Listen to me getting all philosophical." The guy snickered at her statement. In her nervousness Rin then remarked, "I find it funny that I sound like that because when I came out here 2 years ago it was with my husband at the time and he kept snapping pictures of the statue and getting all philosophical when all I kept saying was 'Let's go'."

Immediately Rin felt dread inside of her. There she went mentioning Kohaku again, and to a guy no less. Yet when she looked at him his expression hadn't changed. He didn't seem to care about her divorced status, so why should she? She was here with her new friend, and it was like Kohaku didn't really exist out here. And that was the last she thought of Kohaku all day.

As they got closer to the formal gardens Rin could see something ahead reflecting the sun. The first formal garden they would have to go through was the sunken gardens, and sure enough at the opposite entrance from them was a guy standing on top of the steps pretending to rock out on his electric guitar that wasn't even hooked up. "What in the world?" Rin's companion asked. "And I thought I'd seen everything."

"Oh, I've seen weirder," Rin remarked. "In college there was this guy who used to wear a cape and a mask and dance in the middle of the quad." The guy laughed heartily at her, so she told him about another guy during her college days. "And we used to have this guy who had hooked up a whole stereo system to his bicycle, and he would ride around campus with it blasting. The funny thing was that he was the nerdiest looking guy, but apparently he got all the girls because you would constantly see him with a flock of girls following him." The guy laughed again, but he seemed more distracted now with the newest person they saw, which was a guy in the sunken gardens with a video camera.

"They're shooting a video," Rin's companion remarked. As the pair got closer he asked Rin, "Is there a way to walk around the garden?"

"Yes, but we'll have to get behind him again and therefore in their shot."

The camera man looked up and announced, "We only have another minute left."

As they waited calmly Rin looked at the flowers there just off the walkway that had attracted a large number of butterflies. Earlier she had taken a picture of a butterfly that had landed on a gorgeous orange flower, and she prayed that the picture would turn out all right. Looking back up at the strange man with the guitar she heard a male voice say, "Cut." A guy then came out from behind a wall and remarked to the guitarist, "That's sounded a little flat." The four other people laughed at his joke before descending down into the garden.

Rin asked the director, "What's the video for?"

"We're a band, and we're shooting a music video."

"Cool," Rin remarked. She noticed that her companion had now walked ahead and was staring at the gardens. He seemed rather enraptured by it, so she stayed there with him until he was ready to go. As they got some way down the path Rin turned around and noticed they had started filming again, so she remarked, "Some day if we ever see this video we can say, 'Do you see those two people in the background. One of them is me.'" He chuckled at her statement, which made her feel really good because Kohaku never liked her lame jokes.

Now that they were in the gardens she noticed that he was now walking right next to her listening very carefully to what she was saying, which mostly was crap because she had a tendency to talk about nothing just to fill the silence when she got nervous. Finally as they got out of the gardens Rin wanted to go up to the mansion to get a better look, and she also hadn't seen the Buddha Pavilion or the Fuu Dog row yet. Her companion decided that it was time he headed home since it was another mile and a half away, so they decided to part from there. Before she head out he extended his hand to her and said, "Oh, by the way, my name is Ethan."

"Rin," she answered shaking hands with her. She then set off down a different path without looking at him.

When she got home she didn't tell Kagome about her little adventure because she feared what Kagome would say. She did, however, tell her 3 employees when she returned to work the next day, all of whom lectured her thoroughly about how lucky she was to have met up with such a nice guy because she could have been abducted instead.

But that didn't seem to matter much to Rin. What she was more thrilled about was getting to meet someone who didn't judge her for being divorced, someone who seemed to like her as a person and didn't downgrade her or lecture her. But what she was most proud of was how she reacted to him. Sure, he had been cute, but she hadn't thought of him in terms of a potential romantic partner. Ethan was simply another guy she could be friends with if she ever saw him again.

Nearly all of the guys she had run across lately had tried flirting with her, and she never was flirted with before her divorce or even before meeting Kohaku. With Kohaku's actions and now the sudden attention she feared being around guys because she was afraid that they were always out to get her into bed. But this guy wasn't looking at her in that way. He saw her as a person instead of as a woman. Perhaps she could become friends with guys again like she had before she met Kohaku. Back in college she tended to hang out with the guys because she was always just one of them, even though back then it bothered her because they always saw her as a friend and never as girlfriend material. But until she recovered fully, she didn't want to be girlfriend material, she just wanted to be the ever loyal friend who liked to play video games.

To most people this change wasn't much, but it was definitely a step in her recovery from her divorce. And what made it even better was that she had left Kohaku figuratively back at the park.

--

Note: I don't know if anyone reads these notes, but I will comment in my notes that this chapter is kind of a true story. Last Tuesday I went out to the park, and I talked with a guy who pretty much conducted the conversation as is written in the story.

The only things not true in the story are the names because of the story line and to protect the guy who I met even though I highly doubt this would ever come to his attention.


	3. Control

Warning: This is where the story starts diverting from reality. Demons obviously don't exist in real life, but in this story they do. Oh, and there is a swear word in here that I know they are able to say on TV.

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to the Nintendo Wii, nor do I even own one.

--

By New Years Rin was finally through with her grieving process, and she now accepted the fact that she was no longer married to Kohaku. Yet she still wasn't quite ready yet to date. That wasn't fast enough though for Kagome, who insisted every day that Rin consider dating again.

This New Years Eve Kagome was throwing another party at her house. The party was rather intimate consisting only of the hosting couple, Rin, Sango, Miroku, and some guest that Kagome refused to tell Rin about. And this particular guest hadn't exactly been too thrilled to come except that his plans for the evening had gotten canceled suddenly when the host of that party had a heart attack a couple of days prior. And it didn't help that he showed up a couple hours late. At least by then they already had already eaten dinner and were now sitting down to play a game. Actually, they were playing Sakura's Nintendo Wii.

When the doorbell rang Kagome jumped up from her seat on the couch and went to the door. When she opened the door she revealed Inuyasha's half-brother, Sesshomaru. Rin had seen him before at Kagome's wedding, and even back then he didn't seem too thrilled to be hanging out with humans. The funny thing, though, was the fact that there were so few humans in the United States, much less in Springfield, Illinois, that she found it rather interesting that he would look down on humans who were all around him.

But last time she saw him he had this gorgeous dog demon wife on his arm. She was just as haughty as he was, which made Rin want to gage. However, tonight the gorgeous wife wasn't with him, probably because there was no way she'd go to a middle class human party. Of course Rin had to wonder why it was that he even came because surely she would have found them other plans for the evening.

"Rin," Kagome said trying to get Rin's attention. The guys were busy playing a game so it was difficult for Rin to hear Kagome over everyone. To get Rin's attention Kagome grabbed Rin by the arm and lead her over to Sesshomaru in the front hallway. "Rin, do you remember Inuyasha's half-brother, Sesshomaru?"

"Yeah." Rin turned her eyes to Sesshomaru before asking him, "Where's your wife?"

"Where's your husband?" he asked rather irritated at her questioning him.

Rin's eyes got large and she snapped at him, "I don't spend time with lying, cheating assholes!"

He chuckled at her before commenting, "I guess that's the only thing that makes us alike."

Just then Rin's eyes got larger and she darted her gaze to Kagome who was trying to hide her smile. "How dare you!" she yelled at her sister. She marched to the coat closet and pulled out her coat and threw it on.

"Where are you going," Kagome asked her.

"Home. I'm not about to stay here if you're going to try setting me up with someone, and especially him. Why can't you just get the clue that I'm not interested in dating yet?"

As Rin was throwing open the door to leave she heard Sesshomaru say to Kagome, "You would dare to fix this Sesshomaru up with a human?"

Kagome got suddenly embarrassed and tried to reassure them both, "I wasn't planning on setting up the two of you. I was just hoping that you two could talk to each other and maybe help each other get over your heart break."

"Demons don't get heartbroken," Sesshomaru clarified. "We don't marry for love."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." Kagome droned on before walking away from the both of them.

Rin went outside and sat down on the steps to the porch. The fresh air felt good against her skin since the house was very warm, but soon the strong wind would likely sting her skin. She could hear someone come outside and shut the door behind them. Whoever it was did not move from their place by the door, so Rin assumed it was Kagome coming to get her now that she had actually left. "I don't understand why you think I need to date again so soon," Rin cried out loud still facing forward.

"I could care less about your dating habits," Sesshomaru's cold voice drawled out.

Rin turned around to look at him rather stunned that it was him instead. She moved over slightly so he could actually walk down the steps, but he didn't make a move. "I thought you were Kagome," she finally explained as she watched him gaze up at the cloud covered sky.

"So I assumed," he told her disinterested. Rin turned back so she was facing forward and pulled her winter coat closer around her. "She's not coming to get you."

"She always gets the wrong impressions about me. When I want her to follow me she doesn't, and when I want to be left alone she follows me."

"If you want to speak to her, then why don't you go to her?"

"Because she should be coming to me apologizing. And you should be mad at her also for trying to set you up with a 'human'." Rin could feel her legs twitching as the muscles spasmed.

Sesshomaru was rather intrigued by this woman. She seemed to understand his dislike of her kind unlike his own sister-in-law. He stepped forward until he was standing at the top of the stars and then commented, "Why is it that humans are so obsessed with love?"

Rin looked up at him to see if he was joking with her, but as always his face was stoic. "I guess because we enjoy the thought that we belong with someone who likes us for everything we are." She took her hands out of her pockets and shoved them into gloves. She now regretted leaving her scarf at home.

"Why can you not be content being alone?"

"Because humans were built not to be alone. We were made to commune with others so that we can survive around others happily."

"But you also seem so unhappy with many of your kind."

"I guess if you look at the glass as half empty you do. I tend to think of the glass as half full and how many people you can befriend."

"Is that why you were deceived by your husband?"

"Maybe I had been to blind to the idea that someone who could say they loved me really didn't. Too many fairy tales I suppose. What about your wife? How did you not see that coming?"

"I did see that coming the first time she met the governor."

"Ah, a more powerful demon!"

"No, resemblance of power only. I could easily kill him if necessary."

"I wouldn't recommend saying that too often or they'll arrest you on conspiracy to kill him," Rin joked, but Sesshomaru was too uptight to understand it as a joke.

"I highly doubt that."

"You never know with their fears of terrorism today, but really I was joking with you. Geez, you don't even have a sense of humor!" she cried aloud.

He glared at her but she wasn't looking up at him. After a few minutes of silence he told her, "You should go inside if you're that cold."

"I may be getting cold, but I'm not at the point of freezing yet," Rin quipped back.

"Then why are your legs shaking so violently?"

"I have restless leg syndrome, thank you so much!"

"Another stupid human problem."

At this Rin jumped up and faced him saying, "If you hate humans so much, why are you at a human party? Better yet, why are you living in a place that has so few demons?"

"I shouldn't have to leave because of them?"

"You're pointless logic is ridiculous."

"And so is not dating someone because your husband left you. Are you not still giving him power over your weak humans emotions."

At this Rin opened her mouth to respond, but she didn't really have anything she could say in response. He did have a point there. She was letting Kohaku's actions still dictate her life, and she thought she had gotten over him. Rin sat back down again and kept quiet. They sat there in silence for several minutes before she admitted defeat. "I guess you have a point." He said not a word to acknowledge that he had even heard her.

A minute later Kagome opened the door and said to the both of them, "It's quarter to 12. Why don't you both come in and at least ring in the new year." With that the door closed again leaving the both of them out in the cold.

Slowly Rin stood up and walked back into the house with Sesshomaru following behind a minute later. Instead of sitting in the living room with the rest of them he went into the dinning room and stared out the back window. It didn't bother him that no one had noticed he was alone, but Rin after a couple of minutes did notice.

Taking a couple of glasses of champagne she went into the dinning room and handed him one. "I don't care for human food and drink," he said in his emotionless voice.

"It's New Years, so don't complain." She gave him a cheery smile to let him know she was joking. Instead he turned his gaze away from her to look out the window again. "I know this probably doesn't mean much to you, but you are right about my excuses for not dating. I'm letting Kohaku still have too much control. I guess I need to be my own person."

Rin couldn't see it, but Sesshomaru started watching her out of the corner of his eye. That was the last thing he had expected to hear from her. In the background he could hear his sister-in-law announce, "Only a minute left!"

Rin looked up at Sesshomaru and said to him, "How about I propose a toast." He now turned his head to look at her, curiosity about her evident in his eyes. "To new beginnings." Behind him he could hear the rest of the humans counting down to midnight, but he moved not a muscle. And at the stroke of midnight Rin clinked her glass with his and took a sip. The smile on her face at that moment was what left the most lasting impression on him.


	4. Annoyance

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to anything.

Warning: There are some swear words, but as I always say, "I said these words when I was a teenager and kids these days are doing worse things at earlier ages than I was, so it should be okay to throw in some swear words in a T-rated story."

Note: The Scope program is the before and after school daycare program run by the Springfield School District for its students.

--

Sesshomaru glanced down at the downtown below him. Springfield was a rather strange town. For being one of the top 10 largest cities in the state, it had nothing of a skyline. Indeed, the only two buildings you could see anywhere on the skyline from most of town was the Hilton Hotel and the dome of the Capitol Building. Peoria was a smaller city, but at least they had a nice skyline. And Decatur, well, it had the ADM plant. Of course that plant made the smell of the city so overwhelmingly bad that he always sent someone else there to deal with his business there.

But downtown Springfield was a unique sight to see. Even though most of the state jobs had been sent up to Chicago, there were still a number of people working here every day. And yes, the building up of the west side of town had taken away from much of the development of downtown, it still held plenty of significance and commerce.

In the warmer months there were always festivals, including the Farmer's Market that was held downtown every Tuesday and Saturday. And the past couple of years had brought Obama twice to Springfield, once to announce his candidacy and the other time he announced his vice-presidential candidate. There were other great things about downtown like the number of Lincoln sites, minus the tomb which was over by North Grand Avenue, which brought hordes of tourists especially in the summer. And there was a rather beautiful house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright that the state had turned into a museum. What was the name of that house again? Oh, right, the Dana Thomas House.

But today there weren't a whole lot of people walking around. It was January, one of the coldest months of the year. He watched as humans nearly ran down the streets, many of whom were running from their cars to get inside of the buildings. Midwest winters were nothing to balk at. For humans they were quite troublesome, and for some reason Sesshomaru couldn't understand why so many of them populated an area that was too cold for them to live in or how there could be so many humans living even further north of here. If it wasn't the bitter cold, including the below zero temperatures, the winds kicked up heavily since the city was surrounded by now empty cornfields that allowed for the wind to sweep through untouched. And there was always a couple of snow storms every year that left everyone stranded at home. Then in December of 2006 there was that ice storm that left everything frozen in place for a couple of days and left many without electricity when the weight of the ice became too heavy for the power lines.

But to a demon like him this weather did little to perturb him. He was a demon and therefore able to withstand the hottest and coldest temperatures with little annoyance.

But what was annoying him right now was not the weather but a particular human. Kagome had been annoying enough assuming that since she's his sister-in-law, but it seemed that her sister, Rin, was developing much of the same habit. However, Kagome often commanded him, but Rin wanted to be his friend. And what's more bothersome was the fact that she took his insult to be advice. He blanched thinking that he would contrived as being so helpful to a human to give them advice.

Once outside he put on his jacket and headed in no direction in particular. He walked only five minutes before he saw a face that triggered his memory. Standing outside putting an arrangement into her car was the other human woman at Kagome's New Year's Eve party. Then he saw her, Rin, walk out of the florist with an arrangement of flowers in her gloved hands. She handed the basket to Sango, who promptly put it into the back seat of her vehicle and then turned back towards the florist. Before she entered the building she looked his direction and locked eyes with him for only a second before turning her attention back to the building she was entering.

Once inside Rin told Ayame, who was working the register. "If Inuyasha's half-brother comes in here and asks for me, I'm busy."

"Wait!" Ayame called after Rin before Rin was able to duck into the back. "How will I know if it's Inuyasha's half-brother?"

"He has silver hair and golden eyes. Plus, he's one of the few demons living in this town besides you."

"Okay, but could you at least explain to me why you are avoiding him?"

"Because he dislikes me because I turned his insult of me into a piece of advice. He hates humans, so the thought of helping me out probably pissed him off. I tried to pretend like he wasn't mad at me that night just so he wouldn't say anything to embarrass me, but as soon as it turned midnight I was out of there." She then ducked into the back of the building and went into her office where her niece was currently sitting and working on her homework.

Outside Sango saw Sesshomaru and waved at him before yelling out, "Have you come by to see your niece?"

"My niece?" he questioned her trying not to sound confused.

"Yeah, she's in the shop. You didn't know?"

He looked down at his watch and noticed that it was after 5 PM. Obviously Sakura would be out of school, but he had no idea that she was here today. Hell, he never saw her more than a few times a year, namely her birthday in the summer, Christmas Day, and Thanksgiving. When he looked up at Sango he figured that he better at least go in and say "hello" despite feeling pressured into doing so. If he didn't go in he would most likely have to deal with a phone call from his annoying half-brother berating him about going out of his way to avoid Sakura who, for some darned reason, adored him. And the last thing he wanted to deal with right now was Inuyasha, Kagome, or even Rin. But Rin seemed like the least evil of the three.

He stepped into the florist shop he had seen plenty of times before but had never bothered to go in. The scents of all the flowers bothered his sensitive nose. As he looked at the woman behind the counter he noted that she was a demon, a wolf demon to be exact. She smiled at him showing her fangs, but he didn't need to see them to know what she was. "I have heard that Sakura is here," he said unemotionally as he started to look off in another direction.

"Are you Inuyasha's brother?" she asked him rather excited that she figured out who he was.

His head snapped back in her direction and she could see the anger within his eyes as he growled out, "Half-brother."

"Right," she said drawling out the word. She turned around and said to him quickly, "I'll go get her," right before she too dashed into the back rooms of the building. She poked her head inside the office and watched as Rin tensed up. "Sakura, would you like to see your uncle?" she asked the seven-year-old. Ayame watched as Rin relaxed and Sakura's mouth twitched up into a smile. "He's out front if you want to say 'hi' to him."

With that being said Sakura bound out of the office and out to the front where her only uncle was standing looking at an arrangement of wildflowers. "Uncle Sesshomaru!" Sakura cried out loud before launching herself into his arms. Thankfully for her he was a demon and could move fast enough to catch her. "Uncle Sesshomaru, did you come here to see me?"

"Yes," he lied to her.

"Why don't you come more often?"

He looked at Ayame, who had taken her seat behind the counter again, and she gave him the same inquisitive look as his niece. "I only found out today that you were here right now."

"But I always come here after school," she told him whining.

He looked back at Ayame only to see Rin peeking out the half-open door behind Ayame. He deduced that Rin must work there, but he never knew many employers who would allow their employees to have children hang out at the office. He was saved from answering any further when Inuyasha walked in through the front door.

One look at his half-brother holding his daughter and Inuyasha was already red in the face and yelling, "What in the hell are you doing here with her?"

"Daddy," Sakura said bringing his attention to her. "Mommy always says you shouldn't swear in front of me." For a second Inuyasha looked rather ashamed of his bad language in front of his daughter, but he was clearly still cross with his brother for being there. "Uncle Sesshomaru came here to see me," Sakura announced much to Sesshomaru's annoyance.

Inuyasha took Sakura out of Sesshomaru's arms almost hurting her. He asked Sesshomaru again, "What in the hell are you doing here with her?" Rin slapped her forehead with her hand when she heard him swear again. When Kagome found out tonight they'd likely have another argument over it.

"I came to see my niece. Is there anything wrong with that, little brother?" Sesshomaru asked in a mocking tone.

"Like I'll ever believe that. I bet you don't even know why she's here."

"She comes here after school until you can pick her up because Rin is nice enough to watch her for you." Well that certainly nailed it right on the head because it clearly pissed off Inuyasha even more.

"I don't have to take any more of this!" Inuyasha yelled aloud. "Don't be coming around here again." He pointed his index finger towards Sesshomaru before he went into the back rooms brushing angrily past Rin, who followed behind him. "Why in the hell did you let him in here?" Inuyasha questioned her.

She got rather angry at his accusatory tone. "Hey, this is a business, and I don't have to watch her for you. You could just enroll her in Scope."

"And pay seven dollars a day for her to stay there for just a couple of hours when she could come here?"

"With gas prices these days I might just tell you to pay the seven dollars to save me money, but I do it because I love spending time with her. And don't you forget that!" She put her hands on her hips just like Kagome would often do hoping that it would remind him that she wouldn't take his attitude just like her sister. That didn't stop him though.

As they fought the two demons up front could hear word for word the entire conversation. To lighten the mood Ayame said, "We always love having Sakura here. She's so well behaved, which she obviously gets from her mother. It's no wonder you claim him only as your half-brother."

"He's half-human, and that's why he is such a disgrace," Sesshomaru clarified.

"Are you trying to insinuate that humans are disgraceful?" Ayame asked angrily taking Sesshomaru aback slightly though he refused to show it.

"You are a demon, yet you stick up for them?"

"I may not have liked it when my husband hit on a human back when we were engaged, but Kagome seemed so sweet I could easily see why he was attracted to her. And Rin has to be the most generous person I've ever met. If you'd give her a chance you'd easily see why she can make friends with everyone regardless of their race."

Sesshomaru then commented, "I cannot understand how you can look past their weaknesses including their emotional states."

"You're an emotional being, so don't give any of that crap!" Ayame cried aloud. "You probably get angry often."

"Anger is not a weak emotion."

"It is when it causes you to do foolish things."

Just then Inuyasha burst through the swinging back door yelling at Sesshomaru, "Don't you dare bother coming by again."

Sesshomaru thought Inuyasha was acting bizarre. Kagome was always trying to encourage him to spend more time with his niece, but apparently Inuyasha didn't agree with her but was too afraid to her tell her otherwise. Hell, he hadn't wanted to come in here in the first place except that today he didn't want to put up with Inuyasha's crap about him not coming by.

But then it occurred to him that he could possibly make Inuyasha's life hell by coming by more often. He inwardly smirked at the idea of watching Inuyasha grow angry often and then Kagome getting upset with him when she finds out from Rin about his behavior. Besides, Sakura apparently needed a demon influence in her life since even the full-blooded demon woman working here acted like a human.

He announced before Inuyasha could get out the door, "Perhaps I shall come by more often now that I know she's here after school."

Inuyasha's face grew even more red with anger, but it was clear that Sakura was thrilled with the idea. But it was Rin's reaction that he found the most interesting. After New Years he had assumed that she had taken a liking to him, but when he saw her shoulders slump and her face fall he knew that she wasn't too thrilled with the idea herself.

When Inuyasha finally left, Sesshomaru commented to Rin, "Did you not say to him that you think it is best I spend more time with my niece?" He inwardly enjoyed watching her shock at being caught negatively reacting to his earlier statement.

"Yes I do. Why do you ask?"

"Then why did you frown when I announced that I would spend more time with her?"

"I didn't think you would want to be anywhere near humans," Rin said telling only a half truth. She hadn't expected him to gauge her reaction when it was clear that he was trying to annoy Inuyasha.

"If it will annoy my half-brother, I don't see what harm it could do since it pleases my niece."

Rin laughed mostly to herself as she listened to his answer. It was the honest answer, but somehow she hadn't really been expecting an honest answer. Instead of saying anything more or making a bigger ass of herself she turned around and walked out of the room leaving Sesshomaru to stand there enjoying her reaction.


	5. Appeal

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to anything. I do mention the Springfield Park District, but it's a government body run by a publicly elected board of Trustees. My landlord's property tax money helps fund it.

Note: The Springfield School District typically goes into the first few weekdays in June. The more snow days they use, the further the school year goes into June.

--

When Sesshomaru had told them that he would spend more time with Sakura, they had all assumed him to be bluffing; however, he showed up at the flower shop only a couple of days later. On top of that, Rin hadn't expected him to say, "I am taking her to my house."

"Excuse me?" Rin asked rather surprised.

He then repeated himself, "I am taking Sakura to my house."

Rin rubbed the bridge of her nose with her index finger before asking him, "Why can't you stay here? Inuyasha knows to pick her up here."

"I will train her to use her demon powers for defense." He then thought to himself, 'And perhaps with time I will teach her to control her emotions despite having so much human blood in her.'

"Well," Rin started looking down at the counter. When she looked back up she stated, "You will need to call Inuyasha at work to let him know to pick her up from your house instead." Sesshomaru nodded just slightly so that if you were not watching him carefully you would not see it. "And perhaps next time you plan on doing this you could pick her up from school."

"I could do that," he suggested knowing that it would result in him seeing Rin less often.

Ayame smiled before suggesting, "Or maybe you could take Rin with you and show her some self-defense moves in case she decides to go hiking alone in the woods again."

Rin shot a glare at Ayame as a warning. "This is their uncle/niece bonding time, so I would hate to interrupt it," Rin said sweetly.

So for the next few months Sesshomaru picked up Sakura from school a couple days a week and took her to his house where he was able to train her few demon abilities. Inuyasha hadn't been too thrilled with the idea, but Kagome had quickly convinced him that it was good for Sakura to at least learn something about her demon heritage, not to mention that it would help her in case she were ever faced with a dangerous situation where violence might be needed to protect her.

The spring was starting to show signs of coming around mid-April. The sun was out for longer, making the days seem more pleasant. When it wasn't raining, the skies were actually clear allowing plenty of sunshine, as compared to the winter days when it was almost always cloudy. And the warmer weather was certainly helping to raise people's spirits. Spring was almost perfect except for the fact that it was still a bit cold and there was always the potential for tornadoes with every thunderstorm.

But the sun was not exactly shining down on Rin's life. Sure, she loved the spring and the bright green color of the grass, and even better than that was the vibrant colors of the flowers on the trees, but her personal life wasn't quite as cheery. She had recently tried dating. They had been going out for a month when Rin told him that she was divorced. She had explained to him how it happened, but she was sure that after she mentioned that she was divorced he had stopped listening. So it wasn't much of a surprise to her when he didn't call her again. She knew that it was a sign that he wasn't a good enough guy for her to carry out a relationship with, but she had to wonder if this would happen often.

Of course that was nothing compared to her business. Valentines Day was normally one of their busiest times of the year, but with the stock market crash in the fall and gas prices rising again, there just wasn't enough money in most people's budgets to buy extraneous things like flowers when there were more important bills to pay. She even had to lay off two of her three employees to make ends meet. By mid-April she had to face the inevitable: she was going to have to close her business.

It had been difficult enough laying off Scott since he was single, but thankfully he did have a part-time job to help him for a little while. Emily wasn't as worrisome since she was still in high school and this was just a part-time position for her. Now she had to lay off Ayame, who had children to support, but her mind was put to rest when Ayame explained that Kouga's business had been doing so well she didn't really need to work anyway. Now that left only her to fend for herself since she would now have to find a decent paying job in an economy that wasn't favorable.

But it wasn't her financial situation that she wanted to set right first. Whoever she was to work for most likely wouldn't allow her to leave work to pick up Sakura from school much less allow the child to stay there until Inuyasha could get off of work. There was the Scope program until the summer, and then in the summer she attended the Springfield Park District's summer program at the Nelson Center. With Sakura no longer as easily available would that mean that Sesshomaru would stop training her? And what about the days when school was closed and therefore so was Scope? Where would she go on those days?

A couple of weeks before the store's set date to close she set her plan into action. Just after lunch she walked to Sesshomaru's office. The receptionist in the lobby was a bit hesitant to let Rin go upstairs to Sesshomaru's office given that Rin had never been clearance to do so. "I know I haven't made an appointment," Rin explained to the receptionist, "but its kind of a family matter."

"Are you related to Mr. Tashio?" the woman asked her.

Rin smiled at her and explained, "My sister married Mr. Tashio's younger half-brother, Inuyasha. We share a niece, who we have both been taking turns watching after school." When the woman looked incredibly unsure of the truth of the statement Rin went on to explain, "I was a bit surprised when he first suggested it also. I'm sure you are aware that he leaves work early Tuesday's and Thursday's just before three o'clock."

"Oh, yes," the woman then said. "I thought it strange that he was leaving work so early." She then picked up her phone and dialed the extension. "Yes, there is a Rin Higurashi down here who would like to speak with Mr. Tashio." She paused for a moment before explaining, "She says that she has not made an appointment, but she was hoping to speak to him about a family matter." There was another pause for a minute before she thanked the person she was speaking to and then hung up. "His personal assistant stated that he is out of the office for a business meeting but will be back within within the next twenty minutes. If you would like to go upstairs and wait for him, he does have a ten minute opening before he has another meeting."

"I don't mind," Rin said politely. The receptionist put an open binder in front of her and then laid a pen on the page Rin was to sign her name. A visitor badge was placed on the other page, which Rin clipped to her shirt when she was finished. "I'm sorry, but I've never been here before. Where is his office?"

The receptionist pointed to the elevators behind her. "Take the elevator to the top floor and go straight down the hallway. You'll come to a set of double doors. Go in them and tell the receptionist that Mary sent you up here."

Rin thanked the kind woman and then went upstairs where she met a rather flustered woman sitting just beyond the double doors. "What do you want?" the woman snapped at her as she pushed her glasses up her nose with her index finger.

"Mary sent me," Rin explained. She was a little put off by the woman's attitude, and she wonder further if Sesshomaru allowed this woman to act like this or if he was just unaware of her attitude. "I was told I could wait here."

The receptionist, whose name according to her name tag was Krystle, pointed to a chair and said bluntly, "Yeah. You can sit over there." She then turned her attention away from Rin and back to something she had been doing on the computer.

Rin sat down and looked around. Krystle's desk was a complete mess with papers thrown all about. There were stacks of papers sitting on top of the file cabinets, which Rin supposed was the filing. This was certainly not what she was expecting from someone like Sesshomaru. He seemed like the type of person to desire control so greatly that he would often expect his employees to keep their desks and offices well organized.

It was a constant beeping noise that brought Rin out of her thoughts. "Why in the hell won't you work?" Krystle yelled at her computer. "I don't have time for this!"

"Do you need any help?" Rin asked her fully intending to help the woman if given the opportunity.

"No!" Krystle snapped at her. "I can handle this!" She pounded on the keyboard a few more times before letting out another frustrated grunt.

Rin took off her jacket and laid it on the chair before walking over to the front of Krystle's desk. "I took a couple of courses in college on computers. Let me help you."

"Whatever!" Krystle replied before she got up from her chair and slammed it into the desk before storming off to find the computer technician.

Within ten minutes not only had Rin figured out the problem but she had also set up the program that Krystle had been working on. The computer technician had come up just as she was about to finish and was rather astonished at what he found. "It's no big deal," Rin explained.

At that moment Sesshomaru walked in through the door rather astonished to find Rin sitting there behind the computer while Kystle stood off to the side looking perturbed and the computer technician was looking at the computer over Rin's shoulders. "Is there something wrong with the computer?" he asked the computer technician.

"No, sir," the technician assured him. "It seems that she fixed it for me."

Sesshomaru raised his left eyebrow just slightly before saying, "Then why are you still here?"

"I just got here, and I will go ahead and leave now," the computer technician said a little nervously before hurrying off.

Sesshomaru's attention now turned to Rin, "Why you are here?"

"Uh," Rin started. "I came to talk to you about Sakura."

He walked forward to the next set of double doors revealing to Rin a large office. He paused in the doorway and looked at her again with some impatience showing in his eyes. A slight cocking of his head towards the office was Rin's sign that she was to go in there. She walked past him well aware that his eyes were on her the whole time. The door closed behind Sesshomaru, and he walked around to sit in the high backed, black desk chair.

Rin looked around for a couple of seconds before taking her seat in front of his desk. His office was what she expected it to be. It was well organized and looked immaculately clean. The furniture was rather modern looking, and it was decorated tastefully. Behind him was a wall of windows that overlooked downtown.

He cleared his throat, and Rin looked at him rather sheepishly for being caught looking around. "I, uh, wanted to talk to you about Sakura."

"You mentioned that already," he said, his voice void of any emotion.

"Well, I guess she's going to have to go to the after school day care program for the next month until school is over, and in the summer she goes to the park district's summer program. I was hoping that during that time you would still consider spending time with her. She's mentioned that she really is enjoying her lessons, and she's constantly showing me new moves."

"Is that all you came for?"

"Well, I guess I really think it's important that she spend some time with you since I'm not going to see her as much anymore." She sounded rather dull trying to figure out what to say. He probably thought her even more a simpleton now.

He stared her down trying to figure out what she was hiding from him. Why would Sakura suddenly start going to the after school program unless Rin was fighting with Kagome. "Are you trying to find a way of getting around Kagome's decision to ban you from seeing Sakura?" he asked trying to strike at a nerve.

Rin's eyes got large and she replied quickly, "No, were not fighting. It's nothing like that."

"Then what is the true reason behind this odd request?"

"I really just want to make sure she spends time with one of her relatives. My mother's work schedule doesn't always allow her to see Sakura as much as you or I do, and soon I'll have the same problem. That's why I think it's important that you continue spending time with her?"

"I would have continued training her regardless of your pleas. You have wasted both of our time."

"Well, sorry for asking," Rin said rather sarcastically. "If you were a little more predictable I guess I wouldn't have had to do this."

Sesshomaru inwardly smirked knowing he had irritated her. Of course he was still slightly curious as to why she no longer would be able to care for their niece. "Has your business suddenly grown so busy that you cannot allow Sakura to stay there?" he asked mockingly. He was well aware that the small business did not pull in good sales.

"No," she drawled out. "We're closing." She gave him a small smile to prove to him that she wasn't going to let him get to her much more. "I'm going to get a real job."

"What a shame," he said mockingly.

"Yep." She stood up and walked towards the doors of the office before pausing. If he was going to be rude to her, maybe she could get in at least one jest. Rin turned around and looked at Sesshomaru before smugly saying, "Oh, and your receptionist makes you look like an unorganized boss who lacks control of his employees."

His voice was laced with venom as he stated, "She's a temp."

"Ah. That might explain her rude manners, her disorganized desk, her stacks of filing, and her inability to run simple computer programs that I've been doing since high school. Good luck with her."

"I suppose you think you could run this office better?"

"I could run this office better. You've seen my store. It was always well organized and inviting. And I even managed to get my taxes paid before the end of January."

A strange idea popped up into Sesshomaru's head. True, he found Rin to be rather irritating, but if she could do all she claimed to do, it would reflect better on him than the choice he currently had. Most of his personal assistants had been temps because he could never find an employee who could effectively handle the job. And even if Rin couldn't handle the job, he at least could make her life a living hell while she did work for him.

It also wouldn't hurt to have Sakura come here after school since it would give her a chance to be near Tiffany, his new fiancée. She was also a dog demon, though her family had been in America for several generations hence the American name, and Tiffany was in much better control of her emotions just as he was. This would be the perfect opportunity to show Sakura how to behave like a demon instead of her overly emotional human mother.

"How much longer do you have before your store closes?" he asked her.

She narrowed her eyes at him assuming that he was now poking fun at her for her business going under when his business was one of the largest in central Illinois. "Two weeks, and I don't need your help selling the equipment. I already have a buyer."

"In two weeks you will start working here. You are to show up at 8 AM dressed appropriately. I will not tolerate tardiness."

Rin looked at him incredibly dumbfounded. Had she heard that right? "Excuse me?" she asked him with the confusion clear in her voice.

"I am giving you a job. I am giving you the chance to prove that you can effectively run my office."

"Don't I have some say about this?"

"Do you want to go looking for another job that pays fifteen dollars an hour in this economy? Or how about a job that allows you to watch your niece for the couple of hours after school until her father gets here? I highly doubt your political science degree with your lack of your personal connections will get you far in this town."

Rin let out a quiet, frustrated sigh. He was entirely correct. She wasn't going to find a better job offer. But still, working for him wouldn't be an easy job. Given, at least she would have the chance to still see Sakura three times a week outside of the weekends. "Alright. I guess I'll see you in two weeks," she said resignedly.


	6. Reconnect

They ended up closing the store a couple of days early since they sold off all the inventory early. To celebrate Rin's smooth transition, she and Ayame decided to go hiking at Robert Allerton Park. Actually, Rin had wanted to go, and Ayame had insisted that she come along so that Rin wasn't out there alone again.

Ayame had never actually been to the park before, so Rin showed her the Buddha Pavilion and the row of Fuu Dogs before they head the direction of most of the park. First they went around the mansion, but since Rin had started going out there 3 years prior the only people allowed insider were those there for business functions. They then walked the length of the gardens to get to the Sunken Gardens, where the both of them decided to test out how you could stand at one end and talk and the other person at the other end could hear you perfectly.

Having gotten all of that done, they set out on the hiking trail headed directly to the Death of the Last Centaur. "I can't believe you accepted his job offer," Ayame commented. "It seems so strange to me that you would work for someone who obviously wants to make you miserable."

"He can't be all that bad," Rin countered. "He does spend two days a week with Sakura, and with me working there he'll see her more."

"I bet he's got something up his sleeve, though."

As they talked Ayame could hear someone jogging up to them. When the jogger slowed to a walk he asked them, "How are you two ladies doing today?"

Rin squeaked in surprise, but Ayame had already turned around to greet him, "Good, and you?"

"I'm doing well," he answered just as Rin was turning around to look at him. Recognition sparked on both of their faces. "Hello again," he said directly to Rin. "I don't know if you remember me."

"I believe I met you on this trail some time in the fall," Rin answered blushing slightly.

"Your name's Rin, right?"

"Yeah. Ethan?" He nodded his head.

Ayame cleared her throat before extending her hand out to the man. "I'm Rin's friend, Ayame."

He looked at her for the first time since seeing Rin and then down at her hand. "Ethan," he said shaking her hand.

"I figured that," she said happily. "I believe you're the guy who 'rescued' Rin last fall. Don't worry though, we've all given her a thorough lecture about hiking alone in the woods."

The faces of Rin and Ethan both turned slightly red. Rin said rather quietly to Ayame, "I didn't say he rescued me. I said that he walked with me."

"Right, he rescued you by walking with you so that no one could take advantage of you." Ayame then gave a sickenly sweet smile.

"You'll have to ignore my friend," Rin said cocking her head just slightly towards Ayame. "She sometimes tends to take things out of context."

"I don't," Ayame protested. "Matter of fact, I know for sure that you really liked walking with him last time."

Rin blushed as he asked, "Really? What else did she say about me?"

"Oh, that you were really friendly, how much she liked that you are into politics, how good looking you were, and how muscular also."

Rin by now was a deep shade of red and had turned and started walking off. Ethan caught up with her and asked her, "Is that true?"

"Yes," Rin answered so quietly it was barely above a whisper. But it was the fact that she wasn't looking at him that told him that Ayame wasn't lying.

He walked next to her and said, "Actually, I'm kind of glad to hear that. I thought about you often after that day. I had enjoyed our walk."

"Really?" Rin asked him now taking a peek at him. "You aren't just saying that to be nice?"

"I do mean it." He gave her a sincere smile that made her want to melt. "So, tell me what has happened to you since I last saw you?"

As she filled him in on what had happened with her business and how she got hired by Sesshomaru, Ayame was hanging back behind them watching the both of them carefully. She knew that in the fall Rin was attracted to him, but she had also assumed that Rin hadn't thought about him much after that since she never mentioned him. But watching the way that Rin reacted when she recognized him and the small blush when he remembered her name gave away her feelings. And apparently he had thought about her also since he was truly interested in what Rin had to say. Matter of fact, this time he was walking side-by-side with her.

By the time they had gotten to the Sun Singer Ayame was pretty much forgotten, but that was perfectly fine with her since she was enjoying watching the couple. And it wasn't under they got back to the gardens that Ayame made her presence known again. "I know you're probably visiting your mother," she said startling the couple in front of her. "But if you have time, would you like to join us for coffee or something?"

Rin shot her a worried glance, but Ayame's smile just got wider. "I would love to join the both of you if you wouldn't mind giving me some time to clean up." He was wearing only a pair of shorts again, and he was glistening from sweat.

"Oh, it won't be a problem," Ayame informed him. "In fact, I'm sure Rin wouldn't mind giving you a ride back to your mother's house."

Rin looked from Ayame back to him to see that he was looking at her in anticipation. "Uh, yeah," Rin stuttered. "I wouldn't mind giving you a ride."

"Good," he said with a twinkle in his eye.

They ended up going to a small diner were they all ordered drinks. This time as they talked Ayame made sure they did not forget that she was there because now she didn't have anything else to keep her occupied. After a couple of hours Rin realized how late it was getting and figured that Ethan's mother would most likely want to eat dinner with him.

As they parted Ayame stopped Rin and asked her, "Why didn't you ask him for his email address or at least his phone number?"

"I don't want to bother him if he doesn't want to give it to me," Rin answered honestly.

As if knowing what the ladies were talking about, Ethan walked back to them. "I don't mean to be forward, but do you mind exchanging email addresses with me?" he asked rather nervously.

Ayame pushed Rin forwards towards him saying, "Of course she would." When Rin turned to glance at her friend she saw that same knowing smile that Ayame had been doing all day.

"Yeah, give me a second." She pulled her cell phone out and added him to her phone book. She handed the phone to him saying, "You can type it in there, if you don't mind." He smirked before taking the phone and typing in his email address.

"I won't be able to check it for probably another week, but I do look forward to hearing you," he said to her before waving goodbye. As Rin got to her car she looked in his direction to see him staring at her. He waved again to her with a goofy smirk on his face.

They hadn't even buckled their seatbelts before Ayame squealed, "Oh my gosh! You weren't kidding! He is perfect for you!"

"But I'm not sure if he thinks of me that way," Rin said erring on the side of caution.

"Of course he likes you! He remembered your name and everything. And he did give you his email address. Not to mention he practically didn't notice anyone else around him."

"So you really think he likes me?" Rin asked excitedly.

"Of course he does. Just make sure you remember to email him in a week."

So a week later Rin sent him an email asking him if he had a safe journey home. He replied to her only a couple of hours later stating that he had. After that they emailed each other nearly every day.


	7. Respect

She was perfect, too perfect for Sesshomaru's taste. Of the twenty something personal assistants he had employed over the last five years, Rin was the only one who could actually get her work done and then have nothing to do. He could remember being in complete doubt when Rin announced at the end of her third week there she had gotten everything completed, filed, and sorted. He was in such disbelief he had even gone so far as to look through her work area only to find that she truly had done everything right.

Of course he got caught doing so, but Rin just smiled at him and forgave him. He told her that he didn't need her forgiveness, but she just said to him sweetly, "You don't have to ask for any because I forgive you whether you're sorry or not." Her kindness was also making her fast friends with many people in the building, so he couldn't get rid of her based on her personality.

When Raymond Miller retired from his position in the legal department, it was suggested that they not hire anyone for his position and instead give Rin some of Ray's previous work assignments, which included research on bills in the General Assembly and Congress that could possibly affect the way they did business. At first Sesshomaru had thought that she would fail at it, but somehow she managed to get all of that done in addition to her regular tasks.

He could remember the minute his thoughts about her changed. Inuyasha still wasn't taking the idea of Sesshomaru spending time with Sakura all too well. While Kagome kept encouraging it, Inuyasha would instead argue to death about it whenever he came to pick up Sakura from Sesshomaru's office building. Most of the time Rin managed to keep them separated, but she wasn't always so successful. In late August the two brothers came head-to-head again when Rin was too busy getting some documents put together for Sesshomaru's business trip that she wasn't even on the floor when Inuyasha arrived.

"Sakura, go pack your stuff," Inuyasha commanded his daughter. As soon as she was out of the room he laid into Sesshomaru, "You're only paying attention to her to piss me off, aren't you? I don't want you to get her hopes up only to dash them when you think this isn't funny anymore!"

"You think so low of me, little brother," Sesshomaru remarked sounding just slightly innocent.

"I know you well enough to know what kind of an a—hole you are!"

"Perhaps you have misjudged me. Now, get out of my building before I call security up here to remove you for disturbing business."

Inuyasha folded his arms across his chest and asked cockily, "You don't think you can throw me out yourself?" The look on his face clearly showed that he was challenging his older brother.

"I just don't care to," Sesshomaru explained. "I've got too much to do to bother with you. Besides, it would upset Rin."

"Upset Rin? Since when do you care what Rin thinks?"

Sesshomaru looked down at his laptop again and started typing, "She's busy finishing some things for me for tomorrow, and the last thing I want is for her to get sidetracked."

"Sure, like I believe that."

At that moment Inuyasha heard the door behind him open, but it was not Sakura's scent that was right behind him. "Sesshomaru," Rin said to get his attention. Inuyasha walked away from the door and to the side of the room with his arms still crossed. "I have everything sorted out for you. Where is your briefcase for tomorrow?"

Sesshomaru bent down behind his desk and lifted it up and held it out to her. Rin walked forward and took it from his hand and walked back to the door before commenting, "I really wish you two could avoid arguing with Sakura in the other room. She has better hearing than I do, and I could hear you as soon as I got off the elevator."

"Butt out of his, Rin," Inuyasha said angrily. He wasn't upset with her, but sometimes she sounded too much like Kagome on this matter. Why couldn't they understand why he and his brother didn't get along?

Sesshomaru's eyes snapped to Inuyasha. "You don't need to insult her. She's done nothing to you."

"Oh, so you'll stick up for a human who butts into our business but you won't say anything nice to me, your own half-brother because I'm a half demon?"

"This isn't about her being a human or you being a half-demon. She didn't insult you, so you have no right to talk to her like that."

"And why is she so special that you are allowing her to lecture you?"

"She wasn't lecturing me; she was lecturing you for starting this argument."

Rin finally cut in, "No, I was lecturing the both of you. First of all, Inuyasha, you shouldn't start something especially when you contradict your wife's wants, and, Sesshomaru, if you don't want to deal with him you shouldn't take the bait to fight with him."

"You can spare me the lecture," Inuyasha commented. "I know you think you're Kagome's sister and therefore able to butt into my business, but you're not her sister and you don't have a right to tell me what to do! And don't you dare go crying to Kagome about this!"

Sesshomaru had expected Rin to fire back at him as that was the normal response to something that cruel even if he didn't quite understand what in the world Inuyasha was talking about. Instead she spoke quietly with an intense voice, "You always have to bring that up when you don't feel like you're winning." She then turned on heel and walked out of his office closing the door loudly but not slamming it.

Sesshomaru glared at Inuyasha. Rin may be a human and quite a nuisance to him, but it bothered him that Inuyasha had hurt her so greatly. He spoke sternly, "Get out of my office. If you can't say anything nice to my employees, then Kagome can pick up Sakura."

Before Inuyasha could even move Rin walked back into Sesshomaru's office with her purse in hand. "I'm taking the rest of the day off." She didn't even wait for him to say anything before she was practically running for the front door. Inuyasha left seconds afterward in a huff.

An hour later Sesshomaru still felt bad for Rin, and he had no idea why. Perhaps it was her abruptness that bothered him. Or it could be how Inuyasha treated her after she was trying to be helpful. It wasn't like Inuyasha to not distinguish this, but Rin didn't know that Inuyasha really didn't intend to be cruel. But she had been around Inuyasha for years, so surely she knew when he was being intentional.

Without even knowing it, he was standing in front of Rin's door wondering if she was home. The sound of her deadbolt unlocking told him that she was. "What are you doing here?" she asked as she opened the door. She had been crying because her eyes were red and blood shot.

"You are aware that Inuyasha didn't mean what he said."

Rin stepped aside and let Sesshomaru in. He had never been to her apartment before, and he had to find her address by going through her personnel file. It was spacious for a one bedroom apartment, and she had it well decorated with fake flowers. She flopped into a chair and then gestured towards the open couch. When he sat down she stated, "I'm well aware of Inuyasha's behavior. I've known him since high school, and strangely enough, I was the one who cautioned Kagome against marrying him. When she insisted that he was different around her I decided it was easier just to get along with him for her sake."

"Then why did you react the way you did?"

"Because it often hurts to think that when he gets upset he thinks he can just treat me however he wants because I'm not biologically or legally Kagome's sister." Sesshomaru's eyes conveyed his utter confusion. "I'm actually an orphan. My parents and brothers were killed right in front of me when I was still very young. As a result of the shock I was left mute, and it proved to be too much for most of the foster homes I lived in." He seemed slightly shocked, so she sadly commented, "I guess this entirely changes your opinion of me."

"No," he said honestly. He had to admit that he never thought of her in that way. He had always assumed the reason she had been so adamant about family was because she was so close to her mother and sister. This kind of clarified much about her in all actuality, and the fact that she survived all of that showed that she was stronger than even he. He had been carrying around his anger to his father for nearly his whole lifetime. "What's the rest of the story?"

"Kagome's mother had decided to become my foster parent when she heard about me from her best friend, who happened to be my foster mother at the time. The woman already had three children of her own and two other foster children. She tried, but she couldn't learn sign language and keep a job and raise all of us. Mother thought it would be best to take care of me since it was just her and Kagome in the home after the accidental death of Mr. Higurashi and their son. I stayed with them for all of my high school years. As long as I was a foster child she was able to get financial help from the government, so she never adopted me because I insisted that she get as much help as she could."

"When did you start talking again?"

"Only a year after I moved in with them. It took being in a loving home again to finally make me open up again. I know that probably sounds pretty pathetic in your opinion. Emotions are something you think makes us humans weak, and I'm sure the fact that I remained mute for so many years probably makes me look especially weak."

"On the contrary, I would never have expected someone with such a history to have pulled themselves together so well." It was sappy, and it felt strange on his tongue. When had he suddenly wanted to stick up for a human much less for one he thought too sickeningly perfect only hours before? Was he becoming weak himself? No, he was developing respect for a human, something that was so completely foreign to his own mind. He respected her now knowing that she could have remained such a needy individual for her entirely life like so many others who had been wronged so many times early in their life, yet instead she hung in there and made something of herself.

Rin smiled at his compliment rather relieved. "Just make sure you keep working as hard as you do, and I think we'll get along fine," he said standing up. "And next time Inuyasha says something that disturbs you, just hit him." Rin giggled at the thought of her trying to land a punch on a half-demon. She wouldn't know if Kagome would be entertained by it or angry.

"I don't know if I could get even close to hitting him; after all, even half-demons are stronger than humans."

"A well trained human is better than any half-demon who has never had any formal training."

"But I've never had any training."

"Perhaps when I get back from Chicago I can change that. Sakura can help teach you." Rin chuckled slightly until she realized he was being truly serious. She reluctantly agreed before he left.


	8. Leaving

The weather grew colder day by day as the amount of sunlight started disappearing due to the shorter days and the increasing number of cloudy days. As a result of the changes, the leaves changed from their beautiful green colors to bright oranges, red, and yellows making the trees look almost as if they were on fire. And in these days the moon appears red when it is just barely above the horizon because of all the dust left behind by the harvest of the corn and soybeans.

Rin had actually been rather surprised that Sesshomaru had insisted to train her. On the days he usually took Sakura home he instead stayed at the office and had the girls train in his office after he cleared enough space for them. For Rin it was kind of embarrassing being corrected by her niece, but after awhile she caught on.

Thankfully for Inuyasha, Rin never really had much of a chance to make him feel her wrath since she saw him only on weekends when Kagome was there to protect her. It was actually Kagome who made him apologize after the fight in August, and since then Kagome had also been picking up Sakura after she got off of work. Of course, Kagome was curious to see if Rin would ever have the chance to take a swing at Inuyasha since it might give him a taste of his own medicine.

One day in late October Rin called in late. By the time she had gotten out of the doctor's office it was nearly 10:30, and she had to drive at least fifteen minutes just to get a parking spot much less limp her way to the building. She finally stepped in a little after eleven o'clock, and by now her toe was in even more pain than when she left the doctor's office. Sesshomaru had actually seen her come in and noticed the limp. "What happened to you?"

"Funny story," Rin said kicking her shoes off and throwing them under her desk. "I was cleaning last night and had moved my pumpkin onto the floor. I entirely forgot to put it back on the coffee table and later walked into it. Normally when a human stubs their toe it feels better after ten minutes or so, but this morning it was still really sore. I went to the doctor, and they told me that I hadn't broken the toe."

"What did you do to it?"

"There's a small chip from the bone that is now sitting on the edge of the joint. It hurts pretty badly, but they said all I could take is an over the counter pain killer."

Sesshomaru cocked an eyebrow at her before commenting, "You have taken some pretty hard kicks from Sakura over the last couple of months and yet you managed to hurt yourself more walking into a pumpkin?"

"It was a pretty big pumpkin," Rin defended herself. "It had to be around ten pounds." She could tell from his slight expressions that he was actually kind of amused by the story. "Okay, so yes, a pumpkin got the best of me."

"I'm sure the doctor is having a field day with that story."

"I'm sure he is too." She laughed at herself saying, "It is kind of funny if you think about it."

"Are you going to put your shoes back on?"

"No. It hurts too much to wear shoes."

"It's not professional."

She asked him playfully, "Do you want me to take the rest of the week off?"

"No."

"Then don't bother me about it."

She gave him one of her signature smiles and he dropped the subject because frankly he didn't really care about her lack of footwear. At least she was still wearing socks. It was more of the idea of teasing her that he seemed to enjoy. He had been doing a lot of that since he returned back from his business trip to Chicago. At first he didn't quite get her sense of humor, but then he found that it was actually kind of enjoyable to join in, especially since it made her feel more comfortable around him. And her feeling comfortable around him made it easier to teach her.

Before he was able to close the door to his office behind him she called out, "Oh, and don't forget about your dinner tonight at my sister's house."

He mentally cursed as he remembered that he had been persuaded by Rin to celebrate his birthday tonight with his half-brother and sister-in-law. "Can you cancel for me?" he asked her perturbed.

"No. If Arisu weren't out of town I'd say 'yes', but I don't want you being alone on your birthday."

"Even if she were in town, I'd still spend it alone," he informed her flatly.

Rin stopped what she was doing to look up at him and seriously ask him, "Are demons so cruel as to not even spend their birthdays with their significant others?"

"I've already told you that demons only need spouses to produce children honorably."

"So that's why we never see hide or hair of her?"

"Correct." He closed the door behind him wanting to end this line of communication. For some reason he got this weird feeling in the pit of his stomach when she brought up his fiancée. He had been engaged before Rin had even started working for him, but somehow as things changed with Rin that was the one thing he felt uncomfortable talking to her about. And for the life of him he couldn't understand why that might be.

Before he could even cross the room to his desk Rin's voice came over the speaker to his phone saying, "And you're going tonight, no questions asked. Besides, if you don't go then you won't get your birthday present I bought you."

"I could care less," he said apathetically.

"You need to stop being such a stick-in-the-mud," she pouted before hanging up.

At six o'clock they both packed up their things and head to the elevator with Sakura, who stayed the whole time so that Kagome could go straight home to help Inuyasha with the cooking. On the way down Rin stated, "It's going to take me awhile to get there, obviously, so if you want to go home and change you will probably have plenty of time."

"Are you planning on skipping out on me?"

"No," she said limping off the elevator. "I have to walk the seven blocks home to get my car. Besides, I'm taking Sakura with me, so I obviously can't be skipping out"

"Then I'll drive both of you," he offered her.

"No, that's not necessary," she insisted heading towards the front door of the building. "I can walk home since I walked all the way here."

She let out an undignified squeak when he came forward and picked her up throwing her over his shoulder. "You're coming with me. If I have to endure this because of you, then you're going to be there every minute of it."

"You forget I like hanging out with them," Rin reminded him. She watched Sakura's giggling face as he carried Rin.

When they got to Kagome's house Sakura ran to tell her mother about Sesshomaru throwing Rin over his shoulder. This started a prompt of questions on how Rin hurt herself and the story being retold but this time getting interrupted when Inuyasha's laughter became too loud to speak over.

All in all, Sesshomaru did find that the night wasn't entirely a waste of his time. For the sake of his wife and child, Inuyasha had actually held off picking any fights, and Sesshomaru was all too happy not to start any himself. He had also gotten some decent gifts like a new tie from Sakura, a new briefcase from Inuyasha and Kagome, and a DVD of his favorite movie from Rin.

But it seemed like the entire night came crashing to a halt for him when Sakura said to Rin, "Mama said that you are going to move to Rhode Island."

Rin seemed rather taken aback. She had only mentioned it the other day to Kagome when Ethan suggested it for the first time. "Kagome, I didn't say it was going to happen," she clarified.

"Not yet, but with the way you talk about him I'm sure it'll happen some day."

"We're still probably a year away from seriously considering something that drastic. I have to have a wedding ring on my finger before I'll move in with him."

"And you're a better judge of character now that you're divorced. You said it yourself that he's a good catch."

There was more said between the two of them, but Sesshomaru couldn't really hear it. He knew that Rin had a boyfriend, but he hadn't really listened to her prior to August when she talked more about him. So he had no idea that Ethan lived in Rhode Island. A couple of months ago he had warmed up to the idea of Rin working for him, and then after that night at her apartment he had actually looked forward to having her work for him for years to come. But all that would come to an end when she would leave to be with Ethan, and that was what hurt him the most.

It was strange for him to be so attached to someone. He wasn't even sorry to see his first wife go, but then again, it was hard to see his father leave him and his mother. Perhaps that was his problem. When he allowed himself to get close to someone they would leave him, so he kept himself from getting close to his first wife and now to his own fiancée.

The sight of Rin's hand waving in front of him caused him to break out of his thoughts. "Are you ready to go?" she asked him noticing how he had phased out. His only answer was standing up. Together they gathered his gifts and carried them out to the car. As he drove her home she asked him, "Are you okay?"

"Yes," he answered her abruptly giving himself away.

"Did I do something to bother you?"

"No."

"Really? Because I thought after you heard about me moving to Rhode Island some time in the future you seemed to be slightly disoriented." She looked over at him to see that he was continuing to concentrate on the road. "It's not going to happen any time soon, and it's going to have to be something that I'll have to spend a lot of time thinking about. My family is here, and I can't imagine leaving them so easily."

"You don't need to explain anything further to me," he said with some irritation in his voice.

Rin thought it best to say nothing more for the rest of the trip. She didn't know why she felt so bad for him. What was he thinking? What was he feeling? Was he actually afraid of her leaving?

He parked in front of her apartment and offered to help carry her upstairs, but she refused his offer. Instead of getting out of the car right away she sat there and stared out the front windshield for a couple of minutes before saying, "I don't know if this is too forward of me to say, but you're also one of the reasons I may not move." He looked over at her showing his interest in the conversation. Jokingly she said, "Let's face it; you can't hire personal assistants to save your life. When you think you're hiring someone worthwhile they aren't good, and you only hired me on a whim."

He turned away from her again not really interested in her playful attitude, but she continued talking, "And I guess I think of you as a friend now. I don't know if you feel the same about me, but I sometimes think I'm breaking you a little out of your shell. I mean, I seem to be the only one who even knows what your favorite movie is."

Sesshomaru turned his head to look at her again. She had just said that she thought they were friends, and in truth, she was the closest he had ever had to a friend. In a surprising move she leaned over intending to kiss him on the cheek but he mistook her motion and leaned in for a kiss, and it surprisingly felt so good.

At first Rin froze in place, but then she leaned into the kiss and returned it with just as much fervor as he was putting into it. When they broke for air Rin's conscience kicked in and she immediately moved away from him. "That was wrong," she said after several awkward seconds of silence. "You're engaged and I'm dating someone."

"And you are my employee," he added. Rin just nodded and then finally got out of the car. When she got up into her apartment she sunk into her couch and touched her lips remembering the tingle she felt when she kissed him.

--

Author's Note: Only 2 more chapters and an epilogue to go!


	9. Realization

Author's Note: I'm really nervous about this chapter. If people don't like it then they won't like the last chapter. Could someone please review me and let me know what you think. If I get one good review then I'll continue it, but if I don't get any reviews I'll delete the story assuming that it's not good.

--

The next day at work was very awkward at first, but the both of them agreed it was a mistake on both their parts and to just forget about it. For the next couple of weeks it went unspoken of, but for the both of them it was constantly on mind.

As November drew to a close Rin looked forward to Ethan's return to Illinois. He was coming back to visit for Thanksgiving, and he made sure to take one day out of his trip to come visit her in Springfield. It was actually Kagome's idea to throw the dinner party for him, and she was also the one who encouraged Rin to invite Sesshomaru. At first Rin was a bit skeptical of the two men meeting each other after the kiss, but she figured that Sesshomaru was enough of a gentleman to not say anything.

But he apparently was sending Ethan signals throughout dinner that night. Several times during dinner he noticed Ethan touching Rin on the arm or the leg, and each time he did so she seemed to wince at the touch. He would find himself so angry at the other man that he glared. Ethan seemed so either unconcerned about Rin's feelings or was insensitive to them. What did she see in a guy like that? Better yet, why did he care so much about Rin's feelings?

And Ethan noticed the glares coming from Sesshomaru along with the lingering stares the man did to his girlfriend. Rin seemed pretty oblivious to what was going on because it seemed like most of the dinner her focus was on her plate. Ethan decided to talk to her afterward. He pulled her outside and started by bluntly asking, "Are you aware that your boss is in love with you?"

Rin's head popped up and she studied his face in the dark to see if perhaps he was joking with her, but he was being entirely serious at that moment. "In love with me?" she asked furrowing her eyebrows.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure he's in love with you," Ethan said scratching his head. He walked to the other side of the porch and then stood there with his hands buried in his pockets. "He keeps staring at you, and every time I put my hand on you he glares at me. I'm sure if you asked Sango she would tell you the same thing," he said referring to the fact that Sango sat next to Rin and therefore had a good view of Sesshomaru's behavior.

"He can't be," Rin said brushing off the accusation. "He's a demon, and demons don't love."

"Sesshomaru's father must have been in love with a human at one point in order for Inuyasha to have been conceived."

"True,...but he still despises his father for doing that. That's why he doesn't like humans."

"But he hired you."

"At first as as a way to torture me. What he didn't expect was for me to stick around long enough to torture him." He could hear the smile in her voice. If she had said that he disliked working for Sesshomaru because he hated humans then he probably would have marched in there and called the guy out. "Don't worry though. He's getting married on New Years Eve, and his fiancée is this gorgeous dog demon who will probably produce him strong dog demon children. That's what's most important to a demon, bearing strong children."

"I still don't trust him," he said with distaste in his voice.

"I know Sesshomaru well enough to know that he's probably being protective of me and nothing more. If he doesn't like you for anything, it's more out of fear that he'll have to hire another personal assistant when I leave one day to move to Rhode Island."

"So we're still talking about your moving?" he asked her.

"When we're married I will happily move out there to be with you." Ethan sighed heavily because he knew that Rin was in denial of Sesshomaru's feelings. He moved back to the front door and asked her if she was coming in with him because she hadn't moved an inch. "I'll come in in a minute. I guess I need some time to myself." He nodded his head and stepped inside.

A couple of minutes later Sango come outside to check on her. "Is something wrong?" she asked Rin.

"Yes."

Sango stood next to her and asked quietly, "What's the problem? Did he say something to you?"

"Yeah. He said that Sesshomaru's in love with me because Sesshomaru's been staring at me for most of the night and glaring at Ethan for the rest...Is that true?" she asked rather frantically.

"Well," Sango said thinking back over the night. It was hard for her to concentrate with Miroku continually trying to rub her backside when no one was looking, but as she thought about it, nearly every time she looked across the table Sesshomaru was staring at Rin. "I remember him staring at you the few times I did look at him." She paused for a couple of seconds before asking, "Do you think he's in love with you like Ethan said?"

"I don't know. He's told me time and time again that demons don't fall in love and that he hates humans, but last month..." she drifted off in thought about the kiss they accidentally shared.

"Did something happen between the two of you recently?"

"We kissed once. It was an accident. All I was doing was leaning over to kiss him on the cheek, but apparently I missed because I ended up kissing him."

"I wouldn't call an accidental peck something exciting," Sango said brushing off the incident.

Shyly Rin informed her, "It wasn't exactly a peck."

Sango's face showed her shock but she didn't get the chance to ask any further questions because Kagome chose that moment to come outside. "What's going on out here that you didn't invite me to?"

"Nothing," Rin said quickly hoping that maybe Kagome might get the idea that she was not wanted in the conversation. It wasn't that she didn't love her sister, it was just that Kagome would likely flip out if she heard that Sesshomaru was whom they were talking about. She was mostly worried about Kagome marching in there and demanding that he stop glaring at Ethan or something dramatic like that.

"Am I not invited to join in the conversation?" Kagome asked feigning disappointment.

Sango couldn't hold back from Kagome given that she was Rin's sister, so she went ahead and told her, "Ethan's a little worried that maybe Sesshomaru has feelings for Rin."

"What kind of feelings?" she asked with seriousness laced in her voice.

"Love maybe?"

Kagome turned around and reached for the door knob, but Rin held her hand and begged her, "Please don't say anything. I don't know if it's true, so the last thing any of us needs to do is make a fool of him or Ethan." Kagome could see the concern on Rin's face and relented shrugging her shoulders. She sat down in one of the two chairs on the porch.

After a minute of silence Kagome asked curiously, "Why does Ethan believe Sesshomaru's in love with you?"

"He said that Sesshomaru was staring at me most of the night and glaring at him for the rest," Rin stated.

"That doesn't mean anything," Kagome suggested. "He could just be angry that Ethan is taking you away when he's finally found someone qualified to work for him."

"They also kissed once," Sango said causing Rin to wince.

Kagome's eyes grew larger as she asked, "Kissed? You kissed and didn't tell me?"

"It was an accident. I meant to just kiss him on the cheek and we ended up lip locking."

Sango added, "She had just hinted to me before you came out that it was more than just a peck."

"Details!" Kagome commanded half in excitement and half in disbelief.

"It was the night of his birthday after he drove me to my apartment. We had been talking about my leaving, and I told him that it would be hard to leave my family and friends, which included him. I thought I might lean in and give him a kiss on the cheek just to be friendly. Instead we kissed and I froze at first because that wasn't what I expected. When he cupped my cheek with his hand I gave into the kiss and we kissed for awhile. We broke for air before my conscience kicked in and I pulled away. I said that it was wrong because he has Arisu and I have Ethan. He also concluded that he is my boss. After a few awkward seconds I finally got out of his car. I do have to admit that I thought it was probably the best kiss I've ever had. I've never felt sparks in a kiss before; not even with Kohaku."

"Wow," Sango said dreamily.

Kagome had to be the one to break the news to Rin, "If he was the one kissing you as soon as your lips touched, I don't think it was an accident. He may have mistaken your leaning over, but he was obviously wanting it because he was obviously ready. But with the way that you reacted to the kiss I wonder if maybe you have feelings for him also."

Rin turned bright red, but she was unsure if it was out of embarrassment or out of realization. She had never even thought of him in that way. "But he's my boss," Rin protested thinking of the first thing she could off of the top of her head.

"And you're his employee, but that doesn't mean that he hasn't developed feelings for you," Sango wisely pointed out. "Have you ever thought of him in that way even once?"

"No, because he didn't like me because I'm human." She paused and then a light bulb turned on in her head. "And he hates humans."

"I wouldn't say that," Kagome halted Rin's elation. "He never once said after the kiss that it was wrong for the both of you because you're a human and he's a demon. I would say that pretty much shows he's forgotten what you are." Rin's face fell as she realized her sister was right. "Why don't you think this over. You've got a great guy in there who adores you and isn't engaged." Kagome pat Rin on the shoulder before suggesting that they all go in before the guys got suspicious.

Instead what they found was that the men were all impressed by Sakura showing off her fighting moves she learned from Sesshomaru. Well, everyone but Inuyasha who was actually jealous that his brother had taught his daughter more than he had. When Sakura was sent to bed the adults then started playing cards.

Rin barely paid any attention to the conversation. Most of her night was spent sneaking peeks at Sesshomaru and thinking over Kagome's and Ethan's words earlier in the night. Sure enough, every time she would peek at Sesshomaru he was staring at her, and it made the butterflies in her stomach flutter. Was she in love with him? The way she was reacting to him at that moment certainly suggested puppy love.

She then thought over the past six months and how they had become closer. When she had started they could barely stand each other, but over the months they had come to have respect for each other. And then they developed a friendship. As she had said to him the night of his birthday, she was the only one who even knew his favorite movie. She even shared things with him that she normally only shared with Kagome and Sango.

And suddenly it hit her that she was developing feelings for Sesshomaru, an engaged man. Even if he did feel the same way about her, he obviously didn't want to be with her. He may not have said that she was a human and therefore unworthy of kissing, but he obviously wouldn't consider breaking his engagement off with a demon woman for a human woman.

Now she wished more than anything that no one had pointed out his interest in her. If she had only been kept in the dark then she wouldn't have realized her own feelings. Now that she knew her feelings it would be difficult to be around him every day, and now she would also have trouble giving her heart to Ethan, who actually wanted to be with her.

As she went through her mental anguish she was not alone. Sesshomaru had been wondering about his reactions all night. He saw Rin nearly every day of the week, but it was like he was seeing her differently for the first time in his life. Sesshomaru couldn't even keep his eyes off of her, and when Ethan put his hands on her it sparked this hatred he had never felt for anyone before besides his half-brother.

It worried him when Ethan took her outside only to come back in without her. Something Ethan had said had upset Rin, and something deep within him wanted desperately to go out there and console her. How dare that man upset her! But it was his pride and the way that Ethan looked at him that kept him from going to her. Because of the way that Ethan looked at him made him understand that they had a talk about his behavior during dinner, and it was his behavior that had upset Rin. What could he even say to Rin when he himself didn't understand what he was doing?

When she came in he noticed that she kept stealing glances at him trying to gauge his behavior. It wouldn't have hurt him except that she kept blushing in embarrassment when she would lock eyes with him. The rest of the time she would do anything she could not to look at him. Surely now this would mean she do everything she could to move to Rhode Island just to get away from him, and then he would only have the chance to see her during major holidays.

Sure, he was getting married soon, but compared to Rin, Arisu was nothing. Even her beauty and strength couldn't hold a candle to Rin whose bubbly personality and compassion for everyone she cares for made him want to come to work every day.

Was this love? Was this what his father felt for Izayoi? If it was, now he could understand why his father couldn't stay away from her despite his family at home. Now he would before forced to follow in his father's footsteps being in love with a human only to be married to a demon. The only difference between him and his father was that his love was returned. Rin could only detest him now that she knew of his feelings.

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A/N: Only 1 more chapter and an epilogue to go.


	10. Understanding

Note: Okay, I'll finish the story. I wasn't expecting that much of a response from people in such a short time. I think my email blew up. But I will warn you ahead of time that the characters may go a bit OoC, and I already know all the complaint forums complain excessively about characters going OoC..

--

It was a difficult month for the both of them. Each of them was holding back their feelings assuming the worst of the other. Of course their attempts to hold back their feelings only seemed to strain their relationship to the point that they rarely said a word to each other even about work related items.

So the day before Sesshomaru's wedding he wasn't too surprised to see Rin's resignation letter on his desk. He had assumed that she would move soon to be away from him quickly, and this certainly was the sign he had been waiting for. But in all reality Rin had decided it was best to find another job since she knew it would be difficult to work next to him every day knowing that she could not have him.

And when it came to Ethan, that was a whole other story. He only waited one week to ask Rin again about moving. Feeling rather pressured by him and now feeling guilty leading him on, Rin had decided it was time to let Ethan go his own way. He took the news rather hard especially when she told him that she was in love with Sesshomaru. To say she was surprised about his reaction would be an understatement. He had always seemed so kind, but he was clearly jealous of Sesshomaru because his anger flared up just at the mention of Sesshomaru. Thankfully since Rin was on the telephone all she had to do was hang up, and thanks to the joys of caller ID she could just ignore his phone calls.

So now she was going to make a new start. In two weeks she would be working for another company doing nearly the same thing only for slightly less pay. By the time she was left he would be returning back to work from his honeymoon, so all she had to do was last through today and then she wouldn't have to face him until Sakura's birthday in April.

Shortly before he was to leave for the day she handed him another envelope without a word. Her normally smiling face now donned a tight-lipped frown. Instead of taking the envelope from her hands he pushed it towards her saying, "Why don't you give it to me after the wedding tomorrow." Rin looked down at the card contemplating his words. She wanted to tell him that she had no intention of going, but the words just wouldn't come out of her mouth. "It would mean a great deal to me if you would come since you were my friend."

'Were.' The word hung heavily in the air. They 'were' friends but no more. If he hadn't said that word Rin would have thought that perhaps he wanted her to come, but he used that word to signify that he was asking her out of politeness and formality. "Sure," she answered him gravely. Rin carried the envelope out the door with her wondering if it was best not to leave it there. Normally he would leave before her, so she could leave it on his desk as soon as he was gone and then he would get it later and it wouldn't ruin his wedding day. That was probably the best solution. So Rin waited the next five minutes until he left to leave this wedding card atop his desk.

Inside the card contained a note she felt compelled to write to him. Why she felt compelled to write it she didn't understand. It was one thing to feel these feelings towards him, but it was another to put them into words. And what would happened when he did read them? He would likely get upset either at finding out her feelings, saying he didn't already know them, or he would get angry at her for being brash about her feelings about him marrying Arisu. That would make it difficult to ever face him, but something inside her told her that she needed to let the truth come out.

What she hadn't expected was for Sesshomaru to come into work the next day and find the note sitting on his desk. He had only come in for a few minutes to grab his laptop that he had accidentally left the night before, so he didn't really have the time to read her card. He did make sure to take it with him to the wedding to talk to Kagome about.

After having his picture taken by the photographer he had some time to wait because the bride had yet to take her photos. He was by no means superstitious, but he really wasn't all that interested in being around for her time to be in the spotlight. Inuyasha had agreed to become an usher per Arisu's request, so he had to come early, and he brought Kagome with him. "May I speak to you alone?" Sesshomaru's deep voice scared Kagome. She had not expected him to come up behind her much less speak to her, but she was probably more surprised at his request.

They went into his changing room, which was just a regular sized room, and he picked up the card he had found on his desk earlier in the day. "I assume that Rin left this on my desk because she does not intend on coming today," he said waving the card just slightly.

"You can't blame her," Kagome said rather rudely. "She's had her heart broken on New Years Eve before. Two years ago that was the night that her divorce became final, so coming could only be more painful."

"I had no idea my feelings were so repulsive to her," he commented laying the card down on a chair.

"Maybe if you applied them to the proper person, then I suppose she wouldn't be."

"You are referring to Arisu, I assume." He looked past her wondering how much more to say to her. She seemed genuinely mad at him, but he was above telling a lowly human his thoughts and feelings. Yet she was still Rin's sister, and if he wanted Rin to know his motives then this could be the only way they could be conveyed to her. "I wish I could love Arisu the same way I love Rin; it would certainly make my obligation to marry her easier. I suppose I should have just hid my feelings better, but strangely even I was unaware of them until Rin was. Had I known earlier, I can assure you that I would have reined them in order to avoid embarrassing and offending her."

"It would have saved a lot of trouble for all of us if you would have just gotten over the fact that she was a human," Kagome said feeling the anger rising up in her. It was hard for her to hear him say that he loved Rin when he still couldn't love her because she was human.

"I never had a problem with her being human," he responded abruptly. What was she talking about? "Surely you can't think that I could despise her for being human and love her at the same time. I believe that would be contradictory."

Kagome was rather stunned by his words. This wasn't making any sense. Somehow they had talked themselves into a circle. "So you don't care that she's human?"

"Of course not."

"Then why are you marrying Arisu?"

"Because I promised her I would, and I will not break that promise for someone who despises me for loving them." He was trying to control his anger. Before anger had been something he had no trouble expressing, and it was all other emotions that he had controlled. Now it was quite the opposite.

"Wait!" Kagome said throwing her arms up in the air. "Are you trying to tell me that you think Rin despises you for being in love with her?"

"You say that as if it were not true."

"Why do you think she despises you?"

"She seemed rather disturbed by the news because I am aware that Ethan said something to her the night of the dinner party. That night she seemed rather embarrassed by me and when she would look me in the eye she turned red in anger. She won't talk to me, and now she's moving to be with him."

Kagome rubbed her temples and paced a little. He had read Rin all wrong, but she couldn't really blame a guy who had never really paid much attention to human female flirting before, much less their moodiness. "She wasn't mad at you, she was discovering her own feelings that night also, and it sounds like she was flirting with you. But since you didn't act on her signals, she assumed you despised her for being human, and she had been trying to avoid unnecessary contact that would only serve to cause her more pain. As for Ethan, she dumped him. If you're referring to her job change, she did that to get away from you after you were married."

Sesshomaru closed his eyes and let Kagome's words sink in. Rin loved him all that time and somehow they had both miscommunicated to the point that they were now horribly frustrated with each other. Picking up the card he tore open the envelope and read her note that confirmed everything that Kagome had talked about.

Without a moment's hesitation he started to change clothes with Kagome still in the room. Turning her back to him she asked him, "What in the hell are you doing?"

"I have to find Rin. Where is she?"

"She's at Sango's New Years Eve party, but the wedding starts in thirty minutes. There's no way you'll get there and back in time."

"The wedding is off," he announced now fully dressed in his more casual attire. "Tell me where I can find this Sango's residence." He put the tux into the bag and waited for her to answer.

Instead she turned around to gauge his words. He seemed rather eager to leave, so she decided, "I'll go with you and give you directions, but only if you tell Arisu that the wedding is off. It's one thing to have your wedding day ruined, but it's another to have him not even tell you he's going to ruin it."

Twenty minutes later Sesshomaru emerged from the bride's dressing room without a scratch, not that she didn't try to sink her claws into him. She wasn't really all that angry at him for being in love with a human as she was for his breaking off their wedding to patch things up with Rin where there was a possibility that she could reject him. "I won't wait for you, so when she rejects you don't come back!" were the last things Arisu said to him before he escaped her wrath.

As if having a late wedding wasn't bad enough, he had let Kagome direct him through downtown late on New Years Eve, which required a large number of times having to dodge drunk humans who had wandered out into the street. But they made it there relatively safely and having not killed or maimed anyone along the way. Only problem was the fact that Rin wasn't there by the time they arrived.

"She was feeling really bad and didn't want to stay," Sango explained. "Miroku and I tried to convince her to stay, but I'm sure his groping her didn't help any." Miroku could be seen behind her with a face still red from where his wife had slapped him half an hour before.

"Did she say where she was going?" Kagome asked frantically. It wasn't her moment, but she could feel urgency to get Sesshomaru to Rin so that they could patch things up.

Sango thought for several seconds before asking, "I think she said she might stop by your house to see how your mother is doing."

Kagome nodded her head and thanked them before pulling out her cell phone and calling home hoping that she wouldn't wake up Sakura. When Rin answered Kagome asked, "What are you doing at my house?" trying to act surprised.

"I decided that Mom probably would be tired early so I'd take over babysitting duty for her."

"Okay. Well, I just wanted to check in. Is everything doing okay?" she asked into the phone but then mouthed to Sesshomaru, "She's at my house."

Sesshomaru wasted not a second before getting back onto the road headed for Kagome and Inuyasha's house. So much time had been wasted that it was 11:45 by the time he got there. He didn't know how long he was forced to wait outside until Rin came to the door, but to him it felt like forever.

Rin was shocked to see Sesshomaru standing out on the porch dressed in a simple pair of khakis and button down shirt. As she threw open the door she asked him, "What about your wedding?"

Sesshomaru wanted to laugh but thought it best not to scare her with his strange behavior. "I couldn't go through with it, not with a misunderstanding between us."

"What does 'us' have to do with you marrying Arisu?" she asked gesturing to the both of them.

He didn't wait for her to ask him to come in but instead walked into the house around her. She was shivering from the cold air, so she leaned over and closed the door behind her now effectively trapping her between the door and himself. In a husky voice he informed her, "I read your note after your sister clarified something for me. I was wrong about you. For the past month I had assumed that you were upset with me for having feelings for you."

"No. Didn't you see that I was flirting with you that night?"

"Rin, I don't know anything about subtle female flirting. Most women just throw themselves at me." He leaned in until he was merely inches away from her face. "But then again I should have figured I would have more subtle hints from you since you're different than any woman I've ever known."

Nervously Rin swallowed the lump in her throat and then asked him, "What's so different about me?"

"You're kind, gentle, caring, passionate, strong, accomplished," he listed laying light kisses along her jaw line between each word on the list. "and you're the only human that could make me forget what species we are."

The heady look in his eyes made Rin want to melt, but her mind was also screamed for her to ask him a few more questions before she could consider giving him her heart fully. "What about Arisu?"

"What about her?"

"What's your relationship with her now? Is she waiting for you to return in case I turn you down?"

"No. We're completely through. I want to only belong to you." His heated gaze moved down to her lips.

"What do you want with me then?"

She watched as his eyes flicked back up to her eyes. He was deep in thought. When his words came out they sounded so unsure and yet hopeful. "I want to start a new beginning with you tonight."

Memories of last year's toast echoed in her mind. It was New Years Eve, a night for new beginnings, and what better way than to start it with the one you loved? As the crowds on the TV counted down the remaining ten seconds of the year the couple remained oblivious to everything but each other. Their second kiss better than their first filled with more fire fueled by the discovery of their new found relationship and feelings.

As the countdown ended he picked her up and carried her over to the couch. Laying her down on her side he slid in under her so that she could rest her head on his chest. The warmth they shared on this particularly cold night felt so inviting that Rin cuddled tightly to him. They remained silent for several minutes before Sesshomaru asked her, "How about we spend some time together, just the two of us?"

"Do you have something in mind?" she asked him yawning.

"I still have the tickets for the cruise. The flight to St. Louis leaves from the airport at noon, and I have a reservation at a hotel for the night before the cruise takes off. They will assume that we're newlyweds, but at least we could get away from here together."

"Just as long as you don't think that we are going to do what newlyweds do," Rin said and then yawned again. "At least not until you put a wedding ring on my finger."

"Then we have a deal?"

"Yes." She drifted off to sleep only seconds later with Sesshomaru following behind a minute after that.

When Kagome and Inuyasha got home they found the couple snuggled together on the couch. Inuyasha was about to wake them up, but Kagome's stern warning told him otherwise. She laid a blanket over the pair and turned out the lights.


	11. Watching

The heat of June was starting to settle in on this sunny day. It hadn't rained in a week, so the humidity was rather low. And the park was the perfect place to be on such a fine day. But he had a reason to be in this part of this park at this particular time on this specific day. Standing far enough back from the guest stood a young man watched cautiously so as to not upset the bride.

Rin looked beautiful in her rather casual summer dress, but it wasn't her clothes or her hair that made her stunning this particular day. Today it was her extreme joy that drew everyone to her, including him. And today she would belong to another man.

Kohaku had felt sorry for Rin after she found out about his affair. He still cared about her deeply despite falling in love with another, and it had bothered him to hear the stories from Sango about how tortured she had been during the recovery process, but it seemed that everything had turned out well.

Now she was marrying the man she was meant to give her life to. Yet it seemed that the past couldn't have been helped. From the stories he had heard, Rin wouldn't have been thrown together with Sesshomaru had it not been for her divorce, so perhaps it was meant for him to cheat on her.

And somewhere in the recesses of his mind he remembered the way that she smiled at him on their wedding day. She had been so happy back then, but it seemed today she was more ecstatic than he had ever seen her. As he turned away from the wedding ceremony he had been watching he felt a strange pang of love in his heart that he hadn't felt in a long time. Even after all this time he still loved her enough to know that he only wanted her to be happy, and with Sesshomaru as her husband her future looked happier than even his.

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The End


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